Many reasons are to blame for a mediocre love life, and the list now includes shower curtains, fast food, and even rubber ducks, new research suggests.

Scientists have found that all these items contain “phthalates”, chemicals known to have a damaging effect on a man’s sex drive. For the first time though, the study showed women are also affected by these chemicals.

The findings were presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Annual Conference.

“Phthalates are chemicals in plastics and basically they make plastic soft,” says Dr Emily Barrett of University of Rochester School of Medicine’s. “So if you think of a rubber duck or raincoat or shower curtain being soft and flexible, its likely its phthalates that give them that flexibility.”

“We are learning that phthalates are endocrine disruptors, they interfere with normal hormones in the body — testosterone, and it looks like oestrogen as well,” said Barrett. “And we know that both testosterone and oestrogen are really important for many things, including libido, so we were interested in look at whether women who had higher levels of these chemicals in their bodies have a lack of interest in sex.”

According to research findings, women having the highest concentrations of the chemical in their bodies are most likely to have a low libido.

To conduct the research, Dr. Barrett intervied about 400 pregnant women between 20 and 30 years of age about their sex drive in the month prior to becoming pregnant, and took measurements of phthalate levels in urine samples from study participants.

The results showed that those participants with the most phthalates were more than two-and-a-half likely to suffer from a low libido compared to those with the lowest levels.

There is little the public can do about the situation, as phthalates separate from plastics in time, leaving them brittle. Released in the air, liquid, or food, these chemicals finally get into a woman’s body, explaining the various levels of the chemical in women.

“It is interesting because these are chemicals that we are all exposed to every day,” commented Dr Barrett. “They are throughout our environment and every single person studied showed measurable levels of these chemicals. So even at the levels found in the environment every day we are seeing an association with interest in sex. Low libido can take its toll on relationships and wellbeing. For a lot of women with loss of libido there is no obvious reason why and it is important to know who these chemicals might contribute.”

In Dr. Barrett’s opinion, women displaying low sex drive or trying to get pregnant should avoid fast food, and choose either organic or package-free foods.

“One of the recommendations that might be made to potentially lower your exposure is to eat less processed food and to pick fresh things without packaging. Organic foods are maybe better because phthalates are sometimes used in pesticides, But you are never going to be able to totally eliminate phthalates from your life unless policy changes.”